WEBVTT - Fins Flashback: 1972 AFC Championship Game with Larry Seiple 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:07.960 Factors were Dolphins. Patrick, What a win for this Miami 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:13.320 Dolphin team. Wow? What is up? Dolphins? And welcome to 0:00:13.360 --> 0:00:17.040 the Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins official 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:21.520 podcast network, covering your Miami Dolphins each and every day. 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:25.280 How is it going, everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield, 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:27.760 and I am here to bring you your daily dose 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:31.240 of Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show, we're gonna 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:34.600 talk to a legend of Miami Dolphins lore about another 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:38.560 Dolphins legend, Larry Siple joins us here on the Drivetime 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:41.640 Podcast to recall the nineteen seventy two a f C 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:45.160 Championship game, the victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers that would 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:48.640 send the Dolphins to the Super Bowl and an undefeated season. 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:51.479 We're gonna talk to Larry about that game, his multi 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:55.480 position versatility, but also the great Jim Kick as Larry 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:59.360 tells us about his selflessness, his durability, and ultimately his 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:02.040 football to talent that made him such a great running 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:05.200 back and part of the greatest backfield in the history 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:07.480 of the National Football League. We'll talk about all that 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:11.600 and more here on this Friday during edition of the 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:18.679 Drive Time Podcast. And Jim Kicks certainly enjoyed a storied 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:22.080 career in the National Football League with the Miami Dolphins, 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:25.600 and his legends certainly went beyond the football field. The 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:29.720 famed nineteen sixty nine dubbing of Butch Cassidy and Sun 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:33.040 Dance Kid that was from Bill Broucher of the Miami Herald, 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:37.039 who famously named Sonka and Kick, Sun Dance and Butch. 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:40.120 And they became such icons in that way that a 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:43.240 television movie was actually made of their exploits that showed 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:46.720 them riding horseback into the sunset on Miami Beach. They 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:50.040 also posed for a poster dressed in western garb. They 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:52.320 were larger than life in South Florida, both on the 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:55.640 football field as well as away from it, and as 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:58.440 I'm sure some older Dolphins fans can attest to, if 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:00.680 you just go to his Wikipedia page, there's all kinds 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:04.760 of interesting facts and tidbits, like a former criminal Ron Davis, 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:07.680 who passed himself off as Jim Kick and went on 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:10.920 to make public appearances, got engaged, and even rented a 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.520 luxury home on Key Biscne before he eventually was caught 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:17.360 passing himself off as Jim Kick. So he was quite 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:19.760 a legend away from the football field when it came 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:22.680 to the football field, though, he was even better between 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:25.520 the lines. As a Miami Dolphins running back, he was 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:28.280 a fifth round draft pick out of Wyoming and nineteen 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.480 sixty eight, played with Miami from nineteen sixty eight all 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:34.760 the way through nineteen seventy four. He rushed for three thousand, 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:38.440 seven hundred fifty nine yards in his career, thirty three touchdowns, 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:41.639 and caught the ball for two thousand, three hundred two yards. 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:44.960 Really a multipurpose player at a time when maybe players 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:47.760 like that didn't quite exist like they do in modern 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:50.080 day football. But Jim Kick ahead of his time that 0:02:50.120 --> 0:02:52.880 way and made up one third of the greatest running 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:56.280 back triumviran in the history of the National Football League. 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.040 Jim Kick gone to student at age seventy three, passed 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:01.480 away last week, and we wanted to pay some tribute 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:04.600 here to Jim on the Friday Fins flashback here and 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:07.280 take a look at one of his more fame performances. 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:09.560 So we're gonna go back to the nineteen seventy two 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:12.880 a f C Championship and talk to his friend and 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:15.960 fellow Dolphins legend Larry Cipal. Do you want to talk 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:19.799 about unique football history and football background? Cipal lived it. 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:21.840 He was a punter, He was a half back. He 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:24.160 was a tight end. He was a running back in 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:27.440 college there at Kentucky. A seventh round draft pick of 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:30.240 the Dolphins in nineteen sixties seven, came to the league 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:33.400 serving primarily as a punter, although he did have some 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:36.520 statistics as a rusher and pass catcher both at tight 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:39.280 end and tail back. He needed five hundred and seventy 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:42.560 seven yards and scored five touchdowns in nineteen sixty nine, 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:45.520 and he had a big big play in that nineteen 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:49.280 seventy two a f C Championship victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:52.560 a thirty seven yard rush that kept a crucial drive alive. 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:56.280 We'll talk about that season, that unique career, that thirty 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:58.360 seven yard run in the a f C Championship game, 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:02.080 Jim kicks, touchdowns, and most of all, Larry's memory of 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:04.400 Jim Kick. Let's go ahead and get now to my 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:08.240 interview with former Dolphins great punter, halfback tight end number 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:12.160 twenty himself, Larry Ciple and writing Shotgun now on the 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.000 Drive Time podcast. Is an eleven year veteran of the 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:18.599 National Football League, each with the Miami Dolphins. He's a 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:21.960 two time Super Bowl champion and a member of perfect Ville. 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.920 Larry Ciple, Larry, welcome in, sir, Well, thank you, Travish. 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:28.920 We're very we're very happy to have you in and 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:32.839 unfortunately under some difficult circumstances, the passing of the great 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:34.960 Jim Kick. Of course, we'll talk about Jim here in 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:37.280 just one moment, but Larry, first, I want to know 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:39.039 where are you at these days. Are you still in 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:41.800 South Florida and what are you up to. I'm not 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:45.240 in South Florida, but I'm in Central Florida, Okay, but 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:47.560 we live in the Villages. We've been here about eleven 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:51.760 years and it's right outside of Orlando, about fifty miles 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:57.159 northwest of its stay in Florida. That seems to be 0:04:57.160 --> 0:04:59.280 the case for a lot of the Dolphins alumni. It 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:01.000 seems like people get out there and they don't want 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:04.599 to leave. Well, you can't. You can't beat the weather, 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:07.560 number one. You gotta fight a little hurricane every once 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:09.920 in a while, but other than that, it's just perfect 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:13.240 place to beat. Well this time, you're definitely a little 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:15.320 bit warm down there, but hey, you pay that off 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.679 in the wintertime when the weather gets just perfect in Florida, 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:21.200 especially in South Florida. There and Larry, we have you 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:23.720 in here again today to talk about, or pay tribute 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:26.760 rather to Jim Kick and in particular the nineteen seventy 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:31.640 a f C two excuse me a f C championship game. Now, 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:34.919 you were known, Larry for tucking the football and taking 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:37.520 off of some big runs out of that punt formation, 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:41.680 but this game was your only career playoff rush, and 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:44.479 boy didn't pay off a thirty seven yard gallop that 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:47.800 kept a crucial drive alive in that game. Can you 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:50.800 walk us through that play and the decision to take 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.320 off and run when the stakes were that high? Did 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:55.920 did Don Shula give you the green light on those 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:59.279 types of players or how did that work for you? Guys? Welliot, 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:02.159 we had talked about it all a week before the game, 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:05.640 about how Pittsburgh would set up their wall on their 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:09.040 punt returns, and he said he wanted to go ahead 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:11.520 and run a fake, he said, but then let me 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:13.880 make the call. Talking to he was going to make 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:18.080 the call and he would have. Uh, I just had 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:21.360 ansty pants, I guess because I couldn't wait for him 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:24.760 to say, yes, let's do it. So it turned out 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:28.600 that they were left. I went right and we left 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:31.240 out Bob Mathewson block the only guy that had a 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:35.240 chance to catch me um and so it ended up 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:37.520 working out well for us and put us back in 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.400 the position to score touchdown. We talked a lot about 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:43.479 Bob Matheson on the podcast last week because we honored 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:46.440 the great legendary Bill Aren't Barker and spoke to A. J. 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:49.960 Dewey about the Dolphins defensive coordinator there for so long. 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:53.080 I'm curious. Was it entirely up to you when the 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:55.320 ball was snapped to make that decision or was it 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:58.000 kind of something you read pre snap like did? Was 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:00.160 it always on your shoulders to make the decision you're 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:03.000 gonna run or pump the football? It wasn't to the 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.560 point where he had given me you know you can 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:08.480 do it. He told me one thing, He said, if 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:12.800 you're gonna do it, you better make it. Don't make it, 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:16.920 you'll pay the consequences. So basically I had a green light, 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:20.520 but I wasn't gonna be crazy about it. What were 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:25.280 the consequences? I have no idea. I've always made. It 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:30.800 wasn't a problem. You knew better than to ever have 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:34.480 to face those You better guess right. If you're gonna 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:37.600 guess guess right, that is too good. And and and Larry. 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:41.120 There's obviously several unique things about your career being on 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:45.280 a Super Bowl championship team, an undefeated Super Bowl championship team, punting, 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:47.920 playing tight end, running the ball out of that punt formation. 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:50.720 I'm curious from your perspective, what was it like balancing 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:53.120 your career as both a punter and a tight end 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:55.440 there for the Dolphins. I'm gonna tell you what, it 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:57.680 was a lot of fun. I didn't play much tight 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:01.120 end when once Chula came in in nineteen seventy. My 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:05.880 my tight end duties were like sixty eight and sixty nine, 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:09.000 which was fine. But I did enjoy it the fact 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:11.640 that I got to play a little bit. It didn't 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:15.480 affect my punning, I don't think, but only coaches can 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:19.080 tell you that. I can't. But it didn't bother me. 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:21.160 I kind of enjoyed it and had a good time. 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:24.800 Don't it now help help a younger fan here understand 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:27.520 how that worked in those times, because I know that 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:30.160 we had players that were two way players, but typically 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:32.080 you had someone that was like a nose tackle and 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:35.400 an offensive guard or something that was a little more translatable. 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:38.240 Punting and playing tight end. Those two just don't seem 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:42.200 to mesh very well. Was that commonplace in that era? No, 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:45.680 it wasn't really commonplace, but there were there were a 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:49.360 couple that did something, you know, running backs or something 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:53.760 like that. The only reason I got into it is 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:56.840 deb Moreau was our tight end. Well he went down 0:08:56.880 --> 0:09:01.719 and got hurt. They had nobody else. So once they 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:03.679 had another guy, and I can't remember who it was, 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:05.520 to be honest with you, I'm seventy five, so you 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:07.600 gotta give me a little bit of break here. I 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:10.400 can't remember his name or who he was. But then 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:12.840 you know, once that once he got hurt during that 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.880 week of practice, they moved me over as a backup, 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:18.960 and I ended up playing a little bit more and 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:22.440 then doing a little bit more, and in sixty nine 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:25.679 I had a pretty good year because the quarterback at 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:28.880 the time was Rick Norton, and Rick Norton and I 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:32.160 played together in college, so he knew me, I knew him, 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:34.280 So it worked out pretty good. Being able to catch 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:36.760 a lot of balls and then score a couple of touchdowns. 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:38.960 So and then of course you would go on to 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:41.679 play for that nineteen seventy two team with Bob Greasy 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:44.480 there and in that Super Bowl championship year, the perfect 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:47.600 season and led in large part by a backup quarterback 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:50.560 and Earl Morrall who replaced an injured Bob Greasy and 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:53.280 helped that Dolphins team stay unbeated all the way through 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:56.200 to the a f C Championship game. What was that 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:59.280 like for a team that had such high expectations coming 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:01.439 off a season where you played in the Super Bowl 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:03.520 the year before? What was that like for you guys 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.000 to see your starting quarterback go down and what did 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:08.560 that do to the expectations for that team in nineteen 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:12.079 seventy two, which eventually would go undefeated? You know, it 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:14.480 was it was It was a great thing that you know, 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:18.000 Shula had brought him in the training camp before that, 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:22.079 and you know, didn't have any idea that Bob was 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:25.280 going to go down, obviously, but it worked out great 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:28.160 and everybody was happy with it. He did a heck 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:30.720 of a job with it, and you know, everything worked 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:33.600 out well and Bob was able to heal. We would 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.240 kept we kept on winning and uh, you know, and 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:39.480 then they brought Bob Ben for the championship AFC Championship game, 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:42.280 and in that a f C championship game a pretty 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:45.000 unique thing or a unique situation for people that are 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:47.520 you know, more familiar with football today, where you get 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:50.120 the home field advantage based upon your regular season record. 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:52.520 You guys didn't have that advantage in the alternating a 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:56.520 f C championship site. Every year it alternated between you know, 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:58.480 certain teams, and you guys had to go on the 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:01.320 road for that game in Pittsburgh. Was that something that 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:03.400 kind of bothered you guys or was it a little 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:05.000 bit to me stuck in your craw that we should 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:07.360 have had that home field advantage in that game? Well, no, 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:09.840 because that's the way it was, I mean, all the 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:12.360 way through until nineteen seventy two, and they changed it 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:15.720 later on. But you know, we had no no greed 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:18.720 for no no problem with it. But you know what 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:22.200 was even ironic is that you're in in January, You're 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:25.760 in Pittsburgh and it's sixty degrees and we're loving every 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:29.440 minute of it. I mean, in any better for us 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:32.000 at that time? Yeah, I think that was kind of 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:34.240 the football gods smiling down to the Dolphins that day. 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:36.120 We had we had Larry Little on the podcast a 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:38.040 couple of weeks ago, and he said the exact same thing, 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:40.520 How you guys were up there sixty degrees in Pittsburgh 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:43.679 in January, just completely blown away by the fact that 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.040 the weather did kind of it played along there for 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:48.560 you guys and benefited. So you win that game, you 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:50.440 go on to the Super Bowl. But in that game, 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:53.360 Jim Kick had two rushing touchdowns as the Dolphins do 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:56.719 defeat the Pittsburgh Stealers seventeen to head back to their 0:11:56.720 --> 0:12:00.120 second consecutive Super Bowl. Now, Jim was part of, in 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:02.920 my opinion, I think most offense fans opinions, the best 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.800 backfield in the history of the National Football League. And 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:07.680 we'll get to that here in just one moment. But 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:10.960 both of those touchdowns that he scored were short runs 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:13.679 two yards and three yards, and that was usually Larry 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.920 Sonka's territory, right. Was there something different in that game 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:20.560 plan that week to get Jim those goal line carries? Well, 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:23.000 everybody knew that they were going to key on zomb 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:25.080 you know, most of the time, because he was he 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:27.920 was the boll. I mean, gaven the ball up the middle, 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:30.480 he ran through about two linemen and then he hit 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:33.240 a couple of linebackers. So everybody knew that. So what 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:36.480 they did was that they forced to be the league 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:39.360 guy and gave the ball to kick. And then Kim 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:43.160 was a tough player. It was extremely tough. He had 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:46.760 problems all the way through, and he never missed the down, 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:50.560 never complained. He lined up every down and he played 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:53.440 every down, and he was in those That blue collar 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:56.760 mentality certainly fed the Shoe La brand of football very well. 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:58.800 And as a younger fan, I talked about, you know, 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:01.160 the kind of the vision. I half the Miami Dolphins 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:03.920 in that era was plunging into the end zone against 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:06.240 the Vikings in the Super Bowl, the second Super Bowl 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:08.760 win for the Miami Dolphins in the history of the franchise. 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:11.240 There and he did score the third touchdown in that game, 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:13.920 so kick had to zonc had one, and as that 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:17.720 triumvirant accounted for all three Dolphins touchdowns. Now, Jim was 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:19.840 a Pro bowler his first two years in the National 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:22.439 Football League, and he really shared the load with Larry 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:25.560 Sonka early on. Then Mercury Morris was there but didn't 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:28.600 really get the touches, didn't get heavily involved until that 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:31.760 nineteen seventy two season. But I'm curious, Larry, did you 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:34.400 guys as a team know that you had something pretty 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:37.400 special there early on with those three backs in that backfield. 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:41.800 I think surely had an idea. Yes, I think we 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:45.160 did too a little bit as you watch them in practice. Uh, 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:47.920 you know it was it was always, you know, kickings on, 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:50.000 kickings on, and then all of a sudden they throw 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:52.360 in Mercury. That was a kind of a change of 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:55.800 pace because Mercury was the outside guy, and you know, 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:57.960 it didn't send him up the middle very often, but 0:13:58.000 --> 0:13:59.719 they did send him around the outside, and he was 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:03.560 put quick and pretty fast. Jim was more of a 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:07.000 patient runner. He takes his time till he found a 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:08.880 hole and he'd hit the hole as quick as he could. 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:12.120 But yeah, we we knew we had something special one 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.600 with the three backs like that. And I would assume 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:17.400 that patient style really served him well in the passing 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:19.440 game too, because you look at their passing stats and 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.880 Jim was always thirty forty forty five catches every season 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:25.280 just about and you know, you look at running backs 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:28.040 in today's NFL, and typically if a back is faster, 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:31.280 maybe smaller, he usually contributes in the passing game. And 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:34.160 Mercury certainly had the speed, but Jim was the one 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:37.040 that got all the passing option or the past targets 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:39.120 as the out of the backfield. Out of those three, 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:40.880 what was it about him that made him such a 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:43.720 good pass catcher as a running back? Well, I had 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:47.720 good quickness number one, and Shula had. His design of 0:14:47.800 --> 0:14:51.280 offense was to get the balls to the backs as 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:53.800 much as possible so that they could end up running 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:57.160 down the field more than anything else. So Jim, you know, 0:14:57.200 --> 0:14:59.720 will come out. We had what they called the halfback option, 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:01.720 or he had an option to go in or out. 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:04.320 And you know, Jim caught a lot of balls just 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:08.280 running that route by himself. And when they left in 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:12.080 seventy four to go to the World League, uh, which 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:13.920 kind of ruined us, to be honest with you, But 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.280 they had to do it, which we understood. Then I 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:19.920 had to had to take his place on third downs, 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:22.680 come in and do a little bit of that. But 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:26.160 that was about it. Jim was He was a good receiver, 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:29.320 and it's a good running back. Yeah, because your your 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:31.960 career kind of had some different avenues where you kind 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:33.840 of branched off the tight end you're obviously, but you 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:35.960 mentioned coming in on a third down. What was that 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:39.000 like for you? Changing your position once again there? Well, 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:41.000 I was drafted as a running back, which I was 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:44.040 in college, so I did have a little bit of 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:47.200 knowledge of being a running back, and you know the 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:51.160 the the third downs situations where you know to get 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:55.440 outside and of the offensive line, defensive line, run your patterns, 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:58.080 catch the ball, and then you know, do as much 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:00.760 as you can damage damage why, I said, as you 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:03.880 possibly could. And we talked about Jim kick in the 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:05.920 in the role he had in the backfield there with 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:09.440 Son and Mercury Morris. I'm curious, Larry, what, since you 0:16:09.440 --> 0:16:12.040 were around him and around that team obviously, what was 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:14.600 his response to kind of his changing role through the 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:16.960 years and maybe that year when Mercury did get some 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:19.960 more action, some more touches, How did Jim respond to that. 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:22.920 Jim was pretty damn glared about it. I mean he 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:27.480 didn't he wasn't complaining. The thing was, you know, we 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:30.680 play a game. Record didn't get many touches. He'd be 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:33.880 in talking to Shula, so he give more touches A 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:36.760 week after that, Well that week Jim Kick was in 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:40.640 talking to so he give more week reps next week. 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:43.800 So it was a constant battle between the two of them. 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:48.360 But it never was a personal battle. It was more about, 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:51.320 you know, time to play position, you know, time to 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:54.360 play more that more, more touches of the ball. But 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:59.160 it never affected there their own personalities. They never were 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:02.080 angry at each other or anything like that. It was 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:07.360 always about competition and that's all. It was. Always always competing, 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:09.679 Always competition the best thing for a football team. We 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:12.320 see that now with a modern day Miami Dolphins under 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:14.840 Brian Flores and the idea that maybe you want to 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:17.360 be adaptable each week to have your game plan reflect 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:20.480 the opponent you face. So Don Shula, Bill Arnsberger, those 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:23.400 guys were definitely ahead of their time back in the sixties, seventies, 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:25.560 eighties and up into the nineties. But back to the 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:28.560 game at hand, the game on topic here, is there 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:30.760 a moment in that game that you felt like it 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:32.920 really kind of turned in favor of the Dolphins because 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:35.119 it wasn't back and forth affair. Was there a moment 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:36.760 that really stuck out to you that you remember to 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:39.200 this day. That really allowed you guys to go ahead 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:41.840 and prevail and win that football game you're talking about, 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:46.320 the NFC Camp Ship game. Yes, sir, half time when 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.160 we came out at halftime and he he put Bob 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:51.879 Grief back in the ball game, and a couple of 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:57.440 days later he hits Wall Warfield down the fl went 0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:00.320 for about sixty yards. Yeah. I think putting Bob in 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:03.640 that ball game turned the game completely in our favorite 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:06.000 at that time. And was that something The team was 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:08.560 kind of rallying behind that decision to make the switch 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:11.639 to go back to Bob. I think they did. You know, 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:13.879 it sounded like it in the locker room, It sounded 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:17.080 like it on the sideline, It felt like it. I mean, 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:19.960 I think everybody was kind of happy to be back 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:22.679 where we were. Not that Earl was, you know, a 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:25.320 detrimentarying like dead. He was probably the best thing that 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:28.560 ever happened to us. When Bob did go down, Um, 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:32.240 but Don made a decision to go ahead and replace 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:36.040 him with with Bob at halftime, and I think it 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:39.440 helped the team eventually. It's certainly got the Dolphins on 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:42.160 the scoreboard. We talked about Jim kicks to rushing touchdowns. 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:44.720 Those both came in the second half of that game. 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:47.320 I have one more question for you here, Larry. You 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:50.200 know we talked about Jim Kick. Is unfortunate passing last week, 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:52.720 gone too soon, certainly at age seventy three. I just 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:55.120 want to leave you with the floor right here. Who 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:57.080 was Jim Kick to you? And what would you say 0:18:57.080 --> 0:18:59.160 to him today if you could, if he was still 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:01.119 with us. Just take the floor and talk to us 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:04.960 about your friend Jim Kick. Well, first off, I'd like 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:10.440 to thank him for being a friend and being a teammate. Uh. 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:12.320 He meant a lot to the team. He meant a 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:14.840 lot to me because we were we ran around a 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:18.119 little bit together in there in the late sixties, early seventies. 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:22.840 And uh, I just I'm gonna miss him. That's a 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:27.320 terrible disease. Uh God, I hope nobody gets it. But 0:19:27.640 --> 0:19:31.760 you know that's that's far fetched. I'm sure. I hope 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:35.800 his family understands that he's going to be missed. He 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:41.400 was loved by a lot of players. Um, I just uh, 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:44.679 I hope they're blessed and understand that he is. He 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:48.080 is going to be remembered for a long, long time. 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:52.639 That's certainly a legend of Miami Dolphins history. As you 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:56.120 are yourself, Larry Ciple, eleven year member of the Miami Dolphins, 0:19:56.119 --> 0:19:58.959 two times Super Bowl champion, Larry, I really appreciate your 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:01.439 time today, sir, Thank you so much. Thank you in 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:04.600 a way, he goes Larry si well remembering the memory 0:20:04.640 --> 0:20:07.840 of Jim Kick, Dolphins running back who passed away last 0:20:07.840 --> 0:20:10.280 week at the age of seventy three. Been a tough 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:12.560 year for this organization, saying goodbye to a lot of 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:16.040 memorable alumni, a lot of legends of the franchise. And 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:18.480 let's just go ahead and wrap up this Finch flashback 0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:21.720 here on the Drive Time podcast. With that, everybody, have 0:20:21.760 --> 0:20:23.640 a good weekend. We'll talk to you next week.